My Trip to La-La Land
by Nandita da Cunha and illustrated by Tasneem Amiruddin
“My Trip to La-La Land” by Nandita da Cunha and illustrated by Tasneem Amiruddin. Published by Harper Collins. An interesting travel diary of nine year old Tavishi who finds herself being dragged on a trip to Ladakh to set up a library in a remote mountain school of all places during her vacation.
Tavishi is super excited that her school vacations have started. She has planned to take it super easy and the farthest she wants to go anywhere is from her bed to the room door to shut it :D As she starts wondering why her mother has gifted her a diary, she has an unexpected surprise waiting for her. Tavishi has an overtly enthusiastic and super active mother who keeps doing something or the other. Well the problem is that she drags Tavishi into all of this though she is hardly interested. She started a “Wild Warriors” group which did supposedly fun things like cleaning up garbage from beaches or attending camp to bathe muddy elephants or cycling all the way to school to have a car-free day of the week! Phew!
And now came the biggest jolt to Tavishi’s plans of a relaxed vacation. Her mother was planning to set up a library in a remote mountain school in faraway Ladakh. To her dismay, her mother was expecting her to go with her for what she believed would be non-stop adventure. To top it all, Tavishi loved books. So why was she not happy? She did love reading books but not visiting mountains with them. But she has no choice in the matter as they are leaving the next day itself. The trip features a lurking grey ghost, treks across terrain that looks like the moonscape, along with donkeys and the company of the annoying five year old Tashi, the headmaster’s daughter who takes a liking to Tavishi so much that she follows her everywhere. Read the book to find out how Tavishi fares in Ladakh and whether the trip changes her perspective of the place :)
My eight year old and I enjoyed reading the book. The story was quite hilarious at the expense of poor Tavishi! After all she was being taken to a school of all places during her school holidays. How did it matter if it was Ladakh or any other place? For all the plans that she had made of a relaxed time in her room at home, she had to trek through the difficult terrain of Ladakh. But it changed quite a bit of her thinking and gave her a different kind of experience. We loved the way it led to unexpected new beginnings in her life. The narrative is through daily diary entries. The illustrations are quirky and add life to the story. There are some real life photographs at the end of the book giving a peek into the culture and landscape of Ladakh as well as tips on how to be a responsible traveler while going there.
Recommended Age
The book is apt for children aged 8 and above.
Reasons to Read
The book gives a peek into the landscape of Ladakh as well as the lives of the people living there.
The book serves as a means of introducing and encouraging diary writing among children .
Where to buy from?
An independent bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.